Healing
by 4luv4evr428
Summary: My companion piece to GeneaLady's "In A Matter of Moments," set many years after the events of that story.


I.

For May, it was a cool day in Connecticut after a series of days when the rain would not let up. Lucy was finishing up a stack of pancakes as the drizzle tapped the window pane over the sink. She smiled when Rick walked into the kitchen and dropped his school bag on the floor near the back door.

"Mornin', Mom." He kissed her on the cheek and went to grab orange juice from the refrigerator.

"Good morning, darling. I made pancakes!" She turned around with the plate as he looked up from his glass of juice. Every day for almost all of his eighteen years, whenever she saw him first thing in the morning, it seemed as though it were her husband's face that was looking back at her. And he'd only grown more handsome as he became a man. She smiled broadly despite knowing that in less than a month, he'd be going to training for the Army Reserve. At least it wasn't Vietnam, was the thought that she and Ricky kept in mind constantly.

"They smell delicious. Thanks! Where's Dad?" Rick sat at the table and immediately forked two pancakes into the plate in front of him.

Lucy wiped her hands on a dish towel. "He should be down soon, he's got a big rehearsal today with the new musicians he added to the band."

Ricky walked through the kitchen door just as Rick was shoving the first large piece of pancake into his mouth. "Mornin'…" He gave Rick a look of disbelief as he walked around the table to Lucy. "Mornin', honey." He put an arm around her and kissed her sweetly, his gaze lingering on her before turning to sit at the table.

Lucy put a hand on Ricky's shoulder. "I'm making coffee now, honey. Want some juice?"

Ricky shook his head. "No, no, thank you, dear." He turned his attention to Rick, who by now had only a quarter of one pancake on his plate. He chuckled at his son. "Do you eat like that on dates?"

Rick stopped to look at his father, mid-chew. He swallowed and laughed. "Heck, no, Dad, just around you." Ricky and Lucy both laughed as she turned to pour her husband a cup of coffee.

"Speaking of dates, your senior prom is next week! Do you know who you're taking?"

"Yeah…I asked someone to go with me…a nice girl, she's new to school this year."

Ricky smirked at his son, hiding no small amount of pride in the way girls seemed to gravitate toward the teenager without him doing much of anything to encourage them. "Have we met her? Has she beat down our front door before?"

Rick sat back in his chair, sipping his juice sheepishly. He wasn't shy around girls and had been on a fair amount of dates with the few that he had liked at one time or another. But he liked to be the one pursuing them; he didn't like girls who went out of their way to aggress him. He had learned from his father to be a gentleman, and simply by virtue of his eighteen years of observation, he knew how to treat a lady. His father treated his mother like a queen. And although he had seen her do some crazy things, he knew his mother was fiercely devoted to her husband. And Rick knew he wanted that quality in a girl.

"No, she hasn't been around here. She's from Jersey and she plays the flute."

Ricky nodded approvingly as Lucy picked up her son's dish from the table to wash it. She smiled as she made her way back toward the sink. "Well? What's her name?"

Rick started to get up from his chair. "Rose Mary Anderson."

Ricky sipped his coffee, not making any connection to the name, but both men's heads snapped up when the dish Lucy was carrying crashed onto the floor and broke into pieces. They looked at her as she stood there, stone-faced, staring at the pieces.

Ricky stood up and touched her arm. "Lucy?" She turned and looked at him, and at the sight of the expression in her blue eyes, he knew what had happened.

"Mom…you ok?" Rick was dumbfounded. It wasn't that he'd never seen anyone drop a dish before. But the look on his mother's face was strange and troubling to him. "What'd I say?"

Ricky turned to his son as Lucy turned her back to him and leaned against the counter. "It's nothin', son, just an accident. Bruce is probably waitin' for you, why dun't you run on to school."

"Dad, if I said something wrong, I'm sorry…"

Ricky shook his head. "No, no, you din't…"

"Mom?"

Ricky's eyes grew stern. "Hijo, haz lo que digo."

Rick grabbed his school bag, and although he was concerned for his mother, he knew better than to disobey his father. They were closer than any father and son he knew of, but that didn't mean he could forget who the parent was. "See ya later," he muttered, walking out the back door.

Ricky immediately felt bad for the way he had spoken to Rick; he hadn't done anything wrong, he had no idea. They'd never told him, how could he know? But he decided to deal with that later and quickly turned his attentions back to Lucy, who had taken a seat at the table.

Ricky sat near her, taking her hands in his. "Are you ok?"

Lucy looked across at him, sadness written all over her face. "I'm sorry, honey, it was just…I…the girl's name brought it all back."

Ricky nodded, the feelings that he had pushed down into the darkest part of himself were now surfacing, but he fought them off. "I know, Lucy, darlin', I know." He leaned into her and kissed her, his tongue moving in slow circles with hers, reminding her of the way he had crawled into bed with her at the hospital that night, kissing her in the same gentle way.

When their kiss parted, Lucy touched his face and smiled softly. "You're going to miss the train…"

Frustration hit his face. "Lucy, I can stay with you, baby…"

Lucy shook her head, wanting to hear none of it. "No, darling, there's no need for that and you have an important day."

"I know, but-"

"Ricky, I sent you to the club when our son was being born, remember?"

"Yeah, well, I din't wanna go then, either!"

Lucy put her fingers under his chin, tilting his face to look her in the eye. "I'm fine. Go. I'll need you more when my son is shipped off to Missouri."

Ricky stood up, holding Lucy's arm to draw her up with him. "I'll be home early, those guys aren't 'sperienced enough to go on tomorrow, anyway. And I owe the kid an apology."

Lucy looked at him thoughtfully. "We owe him more than that…"

Hand in hand, they walked out into the living room, where Ricky picked up a briefcase of music and put on his hat. He turned to his wife reluctantly. "Lucy, I-"

Lucy kissed Ricky softly to prevent him from continuing, a tactic that he often employed himself, and the irony was not lost on him. He sighed and started out the front door, pausing and turning back to her. "I love you."

She folded her hands in front of her and smiled. "I love you, too."

When the door closed behind him, she stared at it for a few minutes. When she was sure he was gone, she sank to the floor, put her face in her hands and wept quietly.

II.

When Bruce walked into the band room, his ears rang with the sound of Rick's drumming. When Rick noticed him, he struck a cymbal and stuck the drumsticks under one arm.

Bruce approached him and put one leg up on a nearby chair, leaning on his knee. "Well, it's either a girl or a test you didn't study for…"

Rick smirked. "What?"

"Aw, come on, when I can hear these things from the cafeteria, something's up!"

Rick stood up, putting the drumsticks in a carrying case. "Nah, it's nothing. I was just trying to delay going home for a little while."

Bruce lowered his leg to the floor, standing straight. That was the last thing he expected to hear out of Rick's mouth. "Is it the Army thing? Are they still sore?"

Rick shook his head. "I don't think that's it. My mom was upset about something this morning…and then they kinda sent me out of the house."

Bruce's brow furrowed in confusion. He and Rick had been inseparable since the Ricardos moved to the neighborhood when the boys were five years old. He had never known them to be angry at Rick…except for the time they took the train to New York and snuck into a night club at sixteen years old. They deserved what their parents gave them that time. And it was especially stupid, considering Mr. Ricardo knew every night club owner in the city. The memory made Bruce break into a smile. Boy, did his eyes bug out that night!

He slapped Rick on the arm. "I'm sure whatever it was, they're over it now."

Ricky nodded, unconvinced. "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go."

III.

Ricky walked into the quiet house. "Lucy? I'm home, honey!"

Lucy came quickly down the stairs from the bedroom. She was smiling, but it seemed to Ricky that she was a bit nervous. When she reached him, they kissed gently, Ricky touching her face and deepening their kiss slowly.

"How was rehearsal, darling?"

Ricky scowled slightly. "It's hard to bring in new guys…they dun't play so good with the original guys. But they'll get better." His face softened. "More importantly, how are you?"

"I'm feeling a little better…waiting for Ricky to get home," she said slowly, referring to their son.

Ricky was surprised and he glanced at his watch. It was almost 4:30. "He isn't home yet?"

Lucy shook her head, her fingers fidgeting nervously. "No, and I'm starting to get worried."

"Dun't worry, honey, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably drummin' and lost track of the time." He took his wife's hand and led her to the couch. They sat and he held her close to him. "The one I'm worried about is you."

Lucy looked at her hands before meeting her husband's gaze. "I'll be alright. It's happened before and I'm always fine."

Before Ricky could respond, Rick walked through the front door. He stopped when he saw his parents sitting together, and none of them spoke for a few awkward seconds.

"Hi." Rick pointed to the stairs. "Sorry to interrupt, I'll go upstairs."

Lucy stood up quickly. "No, darling…no…please come in here, we want to talk to you."

Rick dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs and walked into the living room, hands in his pockets.

Ricky spoke quietly. "Sit down, son."

As Rick sat, he felt the gravity of their mood. It was rare for them to be this serious and it worried him. "What's goin' on?"

Lucy sat on the couch near her son, placing her hands on his knee. "Ricky, my darling, there's something I want to show you." He watched her silently as she reached into the inside of the collar of her blouse. When her fingers were visible again, they held a pendant: one white pearl and two black pearls on either side.

Rick had seen her wear it often, for years, so he was confused about why she would make a point of showing it to him now. He looked over at his father, whose eyes drifted to the floor as Lucy went on.

"Your father gave this to me on my first Mother's Day after you were born. This white pearl…is you. These two black pearls…" Lucy took a breath. "…those represent your sisters."

Rick blinked and he felt like someone had thrown cold water in his face. "Sisters?!"

Ricky took a breath and started to pick up where Lucy had left off. "Before you were born, your mother and I were 'spectin' with two babies…two years apart. The first baby, we lost early. But we always felt it was a girl. The second baby, we lost…later. Late enough that we were told it was a girl, but too early to save her."

Rick looked back at his mother as she continued. "The name we would've given her was Rosita Maria."

It took a few moments for Rick to digest the huge news he had just been given, and as he thought, he connected what they told him to what had happened that morning. "So…when I told you the name of my prom date…"

Lucy nodded. "I remembered…"

Ricky took Lucy's hand and looked at his son sincerely. "It took years from that time to conceive you, and after everythin' we had been through…well, tu es nuestro milagro."

Rick looked at his parents, frozen, trying to process this information and what it meant to all three of their lives. When he finally spoke, it was with maturity above what they would've expected for his age. "I'm sorry that happened. I only wish you had told me earlier. I would've understood."

Lucy smiled and reached up her free hand to touch her son's face. "Oh, darling, we KNOW you would've understood. It wasn't you…it was us."

Ricky looked down at his and Lucy's clasped hands. "We dun't talk about it. We should. But it wasn't done."

Rick's heart broke for both his parents. But he found himself feeling connected to these two souls that he hadn't even known about before ten minutes ago. Why was it that they died and he went on to live? What was it about him that was special?

And he was special, at least to his parents. Flashes of his mother flooded through his mind, remembering how she stopped everything every time he skinned a knee. She was practically hysterical when he fell out of that tree in the backyard when he was ten, breaking his leg. His father was a bit more calm in that regard, letting his boy be a boy. But he was always adamant about giving him the very best of everything. And this thing in Vietnam…he had never seen his father so worried about anything in his life.

Vietnam. No wonder it panicked them. Well of course it panicked them, it panicked everyone! But here they were, living with the memory of two children lost, faced with the prospect of losing their "milagro" in a foreign country, by a nightmarish conflict that was claiming thousands of young men.

He understood them better. He was glad for that. It would make their already loving relationship better.

Without another word, he leaned forward and hugged his mother. It wasn't the normal teenage hug he would give her before going to school. He hugged her with the embrace of a son who wanted her to know how much he loved her and appreciated her.

Lucy's arms wrapped around his neck and she held him. He wasn't the little dark haired bundle that she cradled eighteen years ago, and yet he was. In her eyes, no matter how big and strong he became, no matter how many children of his own he would raise, he would always be her baby.

IV.

The following Sunday, Rick was up early, even before his mother. He was in the kitchen making coffee and scrambling eggs…or at least trying to. He turned when his parents walked into the kitchen together. His father always got up early on Mother's Day, no matter how late he had come in the night before.

The last few days since learning about his siblings had been interesting. He felt like there was a new normal in the house, and he looked at everything his parents said and did with a new perspective. And he thought he noticed them feeling lighter since telling him what had been in their hearts for so many years, especially his mother, who he hugged daily now.

She smiled when she saw him at the stove. "You're making breakfast! Well, you're doing better than your father!"

Ricky laughed, remembering his horrible attempt at making breakfast in bed for her when she was pregnant with their son. "There's less food on the ceiling, anyway…"

Lucy walked up to her son and kissed him sweetly on the cheek. "What a wonderful gift for Mother's Day."

Rick returned her kiss and looked at her with bright eyes. "That's not your gift, though. Your gift is outside."

Ricky and Lucy looked at each other, curious. Rick walked past them toward the back door, which led out to the garden. "C'mon, I'll show you. You too, Dad, it's for you, too."

Before she followed him, she turned to look at the stove. "Uh, sweetheart…" She switched off the burner. "You forgot to turn off the stove, dear."

Ricky laughed, walking out after Rick. "He's more like me than you thought, honey!"

She smiled and scurried after them.

When they were all standing out in the morning sunlight, finally a warm day after all the rain, Lucy and Ricky looked expectantly at Rick. She gave his arm a hug. "What is it?" She looked around.

Rick pointed toward a patch of grass in the yard, which was surrounded by Lucy's tulips. "That little clearing there in the yard. Go take a look."

Lucy and Ricky looked at each other again before joining hands and walking toward the yard together. Rick followed them quietly and slowly. He watched them look down at the grass, and then kneel to look more closely and lay their fingers on what he had placed there.

The couple was speechless by what their son had done for them. There was a beautiful, shiny piece of granite, carved into the shape of a heart and nestled into the grass. In the center of the stone, there was an engraving of two figures holding hands, each of them adorned by a pair of angel wings.

Rick started to feel that maybe he had made a mistake when his parents embraced each other and both began to cry. Perhaps he should've left well enough alone, he thought.

He stood silently until they both rose to their feet and looked at him. He didn't know how to read their reaction; he'd never seen it before. "I, um…saw that sculptor in town and, um…I asked him to make it." When they still didn't speak, he went on. "I used that money I was saving up to by a snare…I, uh, can save for it again.." He decided to forego cracking a joke about how he wouldn't need it in Missouri, anyway. Yeah. It wasn't the right time to bring THAT up.

Lucy walked up to him and before he could think about what she might do next, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly to her. He slowly put his arms around her as she whispered in his ear. "My darling little Ricky…you've made me so happy, thank you."

Rick looked over her shoulder at his father, who approached him and put a hand on his head. "You're welcome, Mom. Happy Mother's Day."


End file.
